MONROE — The Southwestern Wisconsin Community Action Program recently learned it is the recipient of a $15,000 seed grant award from Wisconsin Voices for Recovery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. 

The $15,000 grant will make addiction recovery coaches available in hospital emergency rooms and similar settings.

SWCAP Recovery Pathways Program Director Kimberly Hill said the award will be used to hire two staff members to work as recovery coach or certified peer support specialist staff in addiction recovery settings. New staff will attend training in Madison and will then become part of a growing peer support network that is part of the state targeted response to the opioid crisis, according to Hill. 

The goal is to create sustainable peer support models across the state that will: Increase treatment and recovery support service utilization of the target population; reduce emergency department recidivism; and decrease the number of overdose fatalities in Wisconsin.

In Green, Lafayette and Richland Counties, residents can contact the local human services office’s AODA treatment services. Go to www.behavioralhealthpartnership.org/resources for contact info and more. For more information about this grant or SWCAP’s Recovery Pathways Program, contact Kimberly Hill at k.hill@swcap.org.